Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-02-14

phone controversy which has just been
argued, and submitted to the supreme court
of the United States. When the case opened
two weeks were assigned to the argument,
and for the first time in the history of the
court, the readings on Monday-the decision
day-was omitted that the time might be
given TO the counsel i'll the telephone cases.
There were five cases, hy as many differ
ent companies and inventors, all antagoniz.
ing the Bell patent The Dolbear case was
only for a piece of the telephone
only plea to be let in with
the Bell patent, to tho exclusion
of all others, on the ground that
Dolbear ought TO be allowed to use half of
telephone of his own with half of Bells.
The Molecular company deny the original
ity of the Bell invention, and insist that
Philip Reiss, tho German, was the inventor.
The Clay company attacks the Bell company
on the absence Of some legal formalities in
its organization as well as otherwise The
Peoples company claim that the telephone
was the invention of Daniel Draw baugh, Of
Pennsylvania, and that he first produced
both the magnetic AMI the carbon telephone
The Overland company deny the validity of
the Bell patent on all of the aforementioned
grounds, and also charge that Bell, by cor
rupt aid of patent and the corrupt conduct
of an examiner iii the patent office, purloined
from Elisha GRAY his invention of trans
mitter This in brief outlines the different
directions from which came the great and
combined onslaught ON the Bell people in the
supreme court.
Bells lawyers met the assaults of their an
tagonists i'll these five ca>ss with the claim
that to make telephone Of the Raiss device
was scientific imQossibliity that Draw
baugh was char!a,aa and imposter, and
that Gray had himself admitted that Bell
had created the telephone
The court has some knotty and intricate
questions TO decide, and N nths may elapse
before conclusion is reached in these cases.
such as; Whether the LAWS Of electricity
and acoustics can be monopnlizel by dis
coverer of their power in combination. If,
yes, then who was the discoverer! IL nay,
then how much Of the telephone is patent
able Whether DraHhaush's claim to prior
ity of invention Is good, and whether Gray
caveat furnished Bell the basis of his patent.
1t is the opinion of many people, including
it is said, the Bell people themselves, that the
greatest danger to the Bell patent comes
from the Draw baush patent, whose at.
torney'S produced what they claimed was
overwhelming testimony that their client ex-
hibitei speaking telephone at his shop near
Harrisburg, Pa. long before the date OF
Bells patent Several witnesses have sworn
that they talked through it Mr. Storrow.
for the Bell company, MIR. Lowery for the
Molecular company, and Mr.. Lysanler Hill
for the Drawbaugh company, made the
scientific arguments before tine court, and
each seemed to have completely mastered ali
existing knowledge and all prevailing the,
orics concerning the laws of sound and cleo.
tricity. They were listened to with close at
tention and were often Questioned by the
judges.
The case can not be decided until each
judge has examined the record, seine 20, 010
pages, as fully as he desires. Then in con
sultation OF the court the Judgment of each
member will be given, and then the chief
justice will assign 10 one Of the majority the
duty of writing the opinion of the court a
copy of the record is now at each Judges
room. Whether the months vacation just
| taken by the court will afford sufficient time
for its examination is somewhat dou btful. The
opinion may he reached III time to be written
and announced before the al journment in
May, or it may not he ready for announce
ment before the October term